m6

1

 Introduction
 Numerical Control
 Definition, advantages
 T
es of NC control s stems
 Motion and Coordinate s stem
 NC
art
rogramming
 Fundamentals of NC
rogramming
 Exam
le
 Loading Program in:
 Com
uterized Numerical Control
 Direct Numerical Control
 Com
uter-Aided
art
rogramming
 Com
uter-Aided Part
rogramming
 CAD-CAM based
art
rogramming

Reference: Singh, N. (1996), ³S stems a

roach to com
uter integrated design

and manufacturing´, John Wile & Sons.
 Relative motion between cutting tool and work
iece b forcing a
shar
cutting edge into the work-
iece.
 Problems:
 Metals are ver hard.

 Motion between tool and work-
iece should be at sufficientl high rate

 Tem
orar solution: Power driven machines (machine tools) are ca
able of generating
high forces required, but to use a machine tool, we need to
 Determine the location on the work-
iece where machining is to be done.
 Controlling the
ath followed during the motion of the tool or work-
iece
 Controlling the rate at which the
ath is traversed
 Controlling the rate at which the
ath is traversed
 Further:
 A highl skilled o
erator is required even for a sim
le job
 Inconsistenc in results
 Much longer time, de
end on knowledge and skill of o
erator.\ Ver difficult to
manufacture com
lex
roducts
 Low
roductivit
 Same technological ca
abilities as of conventional
 machines in terms of machining, but differ in control of
machine functions.
 Elements of NC s stem
 Part
rogram
 Machine control unit (MCU)
 The machine tool

 Ca
abilities of Machine control unit (MCU) of a NC machine:

 Positioning the tool
 Turning the s
indle ON/OFF
 Setting cutting s
eeds/feed rates
 Turning coolant ON/OFF
 Direction and rate of slide motion, s
indle rotation, etc.
 Each motion is
ositioned b rotating motors b a
desired amount
 The s
indle/cutting tool is driven b DC/AC motors
through reduction gear
 boxes
 Position of the motor is sensed using an encoder
(e.g. resolution is
 3500/revolution)
 Velocit of the motor is measured b a tacho
generator
 O
en-loo
Control
 Ste

er motor is used, having a
redefined amount of revolution.
 Current
ulses are send from MCU to individual motors.
 Movement/rotation de
ends on number of
ulses send.
 Advantages:
 Position is maintained just b kee
ing track of number of revolutions.
 Can
roduce a movement of 1/1000th of an inch, for a single
ulse.
 Chea
and less com
lex.
 Eas to maintain.
 Drawback:
 Assum
tion: Motor movement is
recise, i.e. motor is moving the exact
 amount de
ending on the number of
ulses.
 No wa to correct errors, because no feedback.
 This control is not suitable for large machines requiring greater
ower
 because of limitation of ste

er motor to generate high torque.
 Closed-loo
Control
 Direct current (DC) motors are used.
 Can generate high levels of torque.
 Can be reversed.
 Unlike ste

er motors, it cannot achieve ver
recise movement.
 Se
arate
ositions sensors are required.
 Position information is fed back as a signal to the controller.
 Major advantage: because of feed back and servo motors T
es of NC
control s stems reversible feature, errors can be corrected, b
com
aring with target
osition.
 Thus formed a closed loo
.
 Higher accurac than o
en loo
s stems because of feed back.
 A

lications:
 Larger NC machines because of higher loads.
 For greater accurac , an kind of load.
 Ex
ensive and com
lex.
 •-axis: Alwa s aligned with the s
indle that im
arts cutting
ower. This
s
indle might rotate the work-
iece as in a lathe, it might rotate a tool
as in a milling machine. It is
er
endicular to work-holding surface if
there is no such s
indle. Positive motion in z axis tends to increase
the se
aration between the work-
iece and the tool

 X axis: Positioning the moving element,
arallel to the work-holding

surface, horizontal (if
ossible).
 On machines with rotating work-
ieces, it is radial and
arallel to the
cross-slide
 On machines with rotating tools,
1. If the •-axis is horizontal, the
ositive x motion is to the right when
looking from the s
indle to the work-
iece.
2. If the z axis in vertical, the
ositive x axis is to the right when looking
from the s
indle to the column
 On machines with non-rotating work-
ieces and non-rotating tools, the x axis is

arallel to and directed toward the
rinci
al cutting direction

 Y-axis: be in such a direction as to com
lete a right-handed Cartesian

coordinate s stem
 Point to
oint

 Straight cut s stem

 Continuous
ath
 Linear
ath inter
olation

 Incremental
ath
a

roximation

 Inter
olation using
circular or other equations
 Part Program is the
rogram required to machine a s
ecific
art
or com
onent.
 Require intimate knowledge about the
rocesses.
 NC
art
rogrammer should be a skill o
erator and good
art

rogrammer for maximum utilization of machine ca
abilities and
available resources like jigs and fixtures, cutting tools, without
violating the machine constraints.
 Assumed that it is the tool that undergoes the
rimar motion, for
writing NC
art
rogram.
 Absolute
ositioning mode:
 Target
osition of the tool is given relative to the origin
oint of
the
rogram.
 Incremental
ositioning mode
 Target
osition for the tool is given relative to the current tool

osition
1. Fixed sequential format:
 Each statement consists of exactl the same
number of words entered in a s
ecified sequence,
 Each word consists of a fixed number of data
characters
 Characters cannot be omitted and no extra
characters can be included
 It is essential the same as fixed sequential format
 The difference is that each word within a
statement is
receded b a TA6 character
 The sequence of the words remains significant
 The s
aces should not be used in the actual

rogram.
 A method of coding machine
motion using ANSI format
letter s stem.
 Ease to use
 Does not require all the
words.
 Ignores s
aces.
 Pre
arator function:
 Necessar o
eration conditions
 Axis motion commands:
 Control the amount of relative motion
 Feed and s
eed commands:
 Control the cutting conditions
 Identification commands:
 To identif s
ecific entities in the
rogram, such as
cutting tools used
 Miscellaneous commands:
 Controls various as
ects of the machine¶s o
eration
such as turning the s
indle on and off and changing
tools
 Canned c cles:
 Conventional NC:
 1-in.-wide
unched
a
er ta
e: for
rogram
storage and in
ut to NC machines
 A binar -based re
resentation code
 Two standard coding schemes: EIA & ASCII
 Com
uter NC (CNC)
 Storage medium
 Dis
la o
erational
arameters, coordinate

ositions, etc.
 Ke board for data entr and editing the
rogram
 Distributed Numerical
Control (DNC)
 Each CNC machine
has its own memor
 The local machine
can run autonomousl
 Central com
uter

la s a su
ervisor
role, monitoring the
o
erations of
machines, etc.
 Reduces the manual calculations
 To
rove the
rogram b
ath
simulation, identif errors
 Set of events can be
rogrammed
with fewer commands, leading to
shorter
rograms
 English-like structure of the

rogramming s stems makes it
easier for
rogrammers to learn
 Program
re
aration is sim
lified
b use of English-like commands
that are eas to understand and

rogram. It reduces the likelihood
of errors in the
rogram.
 Standard APT (Automaticall
rogrammed tools)
language:
 APT source file: written b user
 APT
rocessor checks the source file for errors in
 defined geometr , errors in required tool
motions
 CL file means cutter location file
 Post
rocessor converts CL data into final NC
codes.
 Post
rocessing
 Convert the CL data into m/c tool coordinates.
 Check for s
eed, feed, movement limitations.
 Develo
motion command using M&G codes.
 Com
uter-Aided Part Programming:
 Process machine s
ecific functions.
 Select acceleration, deceleration, etc.
 Direct use the CAD
database for geometric
descri
tion of
arts.
 Generate tool
ath
information from the
geometric model of the

art in the CAD
database.
 Post
rocessor is still
required.
 Commercial CAD/CAM
s stems with NC

rogram generation:
CATIA, CADAM, Pro/E.